"circular firing squad" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "circular firing squads",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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      "expansion": "circular firing squad (plural circular firing squads)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992 March 26, Michael deCourcy Hinds, “Capitol Hill Memo: After Scandals, the Hush of Paranoia”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-05-22:",
          "text": "\"What we're seeing here is a kind of circular firing squad, with everybody standing in a circle pointing fingers at the person beside them,\" said Representative Robert S. Walker of Pennsylvania, the chief deputy Republican whip.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997 October 9, Anthony Bevins, “The Tories: MPs get the blame for May election defeat”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2009-05-22:",
          "text": "He said it was not the party that had lost the last election, but the \"circular firing squad\" of MPs.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 January 28, Michael Duffy et al., “What Did They Know And...When Did They Know It?”, in Time:",
          "text": "[J]ust about everyone who helped create this mess is busy pointing fingers, scapegoating the other guys, firing the lower-downs and diming out the higher-ups. Last week what was once envisioned as a new kind of company resembled little more than a circular firing squad of executives, accountants, consultants and lawyers.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A political party or other group experiencing considerable disarray because the members are engaging in internal disputes and mutual recrimination."
      ],
      "id": "en-circular_firing_squad-en-noun-yd0EulJS",
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        [
          "disarray",
          "disarray"
        ],
        [
          "dispute",
          "dispute"
        ],
        [
          "recrimination",
          "recrimination"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A political party or other group experiencing considerable disarray because the members are engaging in internal disputes and mutual recrimination."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "finger-pointing"
        },
        {
          "word": "infighting"
        },
        {
          "word": "Mexican standoff"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "group in the state of infighting",
          "word": "käärmeenpesä"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "circular firing squad"
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{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "circular firing squads",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "finger-pointing"
    },
    {
      "word": "infighting"
    },
    {
      "word": "Mexican standoff"
    }
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        {
          "ref": "1992 March 26, Michael deCourcy Hinds, “Capitol Hill Memo: After Scandals, the Hush of Paranoia”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-05-22:",
          "text": "\"What we're seeing here is a kind of circular firing squad, with everybody standing in a circle pointing fingers at the person beside them,\" said Representative Robert S. Walker of Pennsylvania, the chief deputy Republican whip.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997 October 9, Anthony Bevins, “The Tories: MPs get the blame for May election defeat”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2009-05-22:",
          "text": "He said it was not the party that had lost the last election, but the \"circular firing squad\" of MPs.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 January 28, Michael Duffy et al., “What Did They Know And...When Did They Know It?”, in Time:",
          "text": "[J]ust about everyone who helped create this mess is busy pointing fingers, scapegoating the other guys, firing the lower-downs and diming out the higher-ups. Last week what was once envisioned as a new kind of company resembled little more than a circular firing squad of executives, accountants, consultants and lawyers.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A political party or other group experiencing considerable disarray because the members are engaging in internal disputes and mutual recrimination."
      ],
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        [
          "political party",
          "political party"
        ],
        [
          "disarray",
          "disarray"
        ],
        [
          "dispute",
          "dispute"
        ],
        [
          "recrimination",
          "recrimination"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A political party or other group experiencing considerable disarray because the members are engaging in internal disputes and mutual recrimination."
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "group in the state of infighting",
      "word": "käärmeenpesä"
    }
  ],
  "word": "circular firing squad"
}